Truthear HEXA 4 Driver Hybrid IEM

I had a defective unit arrive first, with severe channel imbalance in the bass. After emailing Shenzhen Audio support, I had a replacement sent. I lost the replacement unit, and now have a 3rd Hexa, I bought.

The build of the earpieces feels sturdy in the hand, nozzles are large and the body is broad and slightly irritating over time. I have small deep ears. Hexa fits them well but not effortlessly.

Overall, the Hexa is a good IEM. It has sufficient resolving capability across the frequency range, is engaging, and is almost peerless in tuning.

The tuning for me, is relaxed with dipped mid treble, unemphasized midbass and a rise in sub bass. I would even go far as to call the Hexa L shaped. There is little fatigue, and the bass is engaging enough for me. Hexa teeters on the line between neutral and fun well.

The technicalities are average, or good. Bass impact is quite light, and more slappy than woofy or punchy. Mids and treble are also gentle, but treble has a plasticky smoothness to it.

Detail is no slouch, but not amazing. This can also be spun as the Hexa is not very distracting. The imaging is decent. Stage is a intimate.

The Hexa has much good, and very little to fault. My one preferential nitpick is I wish it had more impact, and maybe a hair more treble energy.

Edit: 28/06/2023. I changed the rating from 5 to 4 stars. The Hexa is good, but leans a bit boring, a bit smeared. For the price it's excellent; but as an experience its very, very good but not unique; it's hard to love but harder to dislike.

Background

• I’m super new to this hobby, previously/currently I own: KZ ZS10 Pro, Intime Sora Light 2019, Moondrop Quarks, Samsung Galaxy Buds 2, Tanchjim Zero.
• Have been using Hexa for a while. (more than 1 month)
• Listens to J-POP 99.99% of the time, but with a fair amount of different genres like rock, pop, classical, soundtracks, relaxed/slower-paced.
• Have demo-ed a fair selection of IEMs before purchasing the Hexa.
  • Personally I do not like IEMs that are too warm or too bright, but a small amount of warmth and brightness are very pleasing to my ears.
• This is purely my impression of the Truthear Hexa, please only take it with a grain of salt.

Source(s)

• Conexant CX Pro CX31993
  • Making treble sounds a little brighter and leaner, not really for me.
• Truthear Shio (current)
  • Adds some warmth and body to vocals, making them sound a little fuller.
  • Good addition if you think the Hexa sounds a little too lean and dull.

Ear tips

• SpinFit CP145
  • Adds some air and energy to the treble.
  • Opens up the soundstage slightly, making them a little wider.

• FiiO HS19 double flange (current)
  • Switched over to this very recently. (so only initial impressions)
  • Very comfortable and fits super well into my ear.
  • Sibilance and peakyness somewhat reduced, treble becomes a little smoother.

Packaging

• Comes with a decent amount of accessories
  • IEM.
  • Soft pouch.
  • Wide selection of ear tips.
    • 3 pairs of narrow bore silicone tips (S, M, L)
    • 3 pairs of wide bore silicon tips (S, M, L)
    • 1 pair of memory foam tips
  • Cable is alright, tangles a bit sometimes.
  • Manual & some documentations

Design & Build Quality

• Lightweight.
• Faceplate with a matte finishing.
• Simple and clean.
  • Black faceplate.
  • A little bit of transparency in the body. Overall, it looks pretty cool.

Fit

• Fit is amazing for me.
• Nozzle is a little on the wider side, may not be for everyone.

Tonality

• Neutral with some sub-bass boost.
• Some may say it is too boring, but personally I find it engaging enough without being too fatiguing.
• Slightly leaning towards analytical instead of musical.

Bass - 8/10

• Decent amount of sub bass, really satisfying rumble, almost perfect amount for me.
• Slightly lacking a tiny bit of mid bass slam, but not a huge deal for me.
• Speed is fairly fast.
• Quantity is “just enough”, not too much but bass presence is definitely there. However, do note that this is definitely not enough for bass heads.
• Well controlled and fairly well textured, good depth as well, no sign of bleeding into the midrange.
• Overall, very satisfying bass to me.

Midrange - 9/10

• Clean midrange with a hint of warmth.
• Both vocals and instruments sound lively and natural.
• Male vocals sound slightly more forward compared to female vocals, but overall both male and female vocals are not overly forward or recessed.
• Energy in vocals is just right, is not too overbearing or dry/hollow, hits the sweet spot for me.

Treble - 6/10

• Treble is on the bright and sparkly side.
• A little bit too much to me, slightly fatiguing.
• Details in trebles are very good.
• Can be peaky and sibilant occasionally, depending on tracks.

Technicalities

Detail Retrieval - 8/10

• Resolution is really good considering the price.

Soundstage - 6/10

• Soundstage is decent, not super wide or anything, but it is okay.

Imaging - 7/10

• Imaging and accuracy is spot on as position of instruments and vocals can be pinpointed fairly easily.
• Gaming
  • Apex Legends: Sound of footsteps and gunfire can be pinpointed in terms of direction, but have a little problem in pinpointing the exact location.
• Overall, the Hexa should be good enough but I would not get this specifically for gaming.

Separation - 8/10

• Separation between each instrument and layering is really good.
• Runs most of my super busy tracks without any issues, instruments can still be distinguished between another.

Conclusion

• I would call it a more musical mini Blessing 2 with smoother trebles, more bass, and a more affordable price tag.
  • However, Blessing 2 still has better details retrieval, lesser bass, and leaner midrange, so it really comes out to personal preference.
• Really worth it if you are into this kind of neutral-ish tuning with some sub-bass boost.
• Really well tuned with outstanding technicalities, especially considering the price.
• Try to demo before making a decision, don’t blind buy if:
  • You are a basshead.
  • You want a SUPER fun and engaging set.
  • You cannot handle treble peaks at all.

Thanks for reading!

Hi there, before I even begin this review, please do forgive my weird English and grammatical mistakes and my potato camera,
the Truthear Hexa is bought with my own money and this is purely my subjective opinion.


Unboxing & Build

Fitting
is pretty comfortable despite its hexagonal pointy shape, also the IEM is pretty light in weight

Sound

Sound is tested using Moondrop Line T Cable, Stock Small Bore Eartips, FiiO K7 and Truthear Shio
Source is mostly from Apple Music Lossless and my FLAC collection
Genre : J-POP, J-Rock, Anisong, Rap, Metal, EDM, Jazz

for the sound I will compare the Hexa to Moondrop Blessing 2 A LOT as the hype said the Hexa is the "Blessing 2 Killer".

Tonality in general is closer to DF-Neutral (NOT TRUE DF) like the Blessing 2 with extra sub-bass and reduced upper midrange and lower treble.

Bass is deep, rumbly and have decent punch to it, the bass is focused on the sub-bass region.
It has pretty good bass resolution, like "hi-fi bass".
If myself going to compare the Hexa to the Blessing 2, bass on the Hexa feels MORE lively and immersive.
Very deep and more rumbly and have more punch compared to the Blessing 2, this probably due to Hexa using LCP Dynamic Driver compared to older Paper Dome Dynamic Driver that Blessing 2 use.
The Bass on Blessing 2 is somewhat feels a bit lacking both in depth and punch compared to Hexa.

Bass on Hexa is pretty safe for all type of genre, speedy enough for double pedal music (Metal) and to my ears still have decent punch for Rap and EDM, though for individual who prefer more mid-bass punch might feel the Hexa is a bit lacking in that department because the mid-bass is not that boosted.

Mids is neutral, not too thin nor too thick / too weighty, not too forward either.
Vocal is free from shoutiness and no sibilance is found during use.
The effect from reducing the upper mids and lower treble is more relaxed and laidback presentation to the overall sound and more stage distance both on vocal and instruments.
I also don't have any complain for the Instruments, it has correct timbre and to be honest it sounds nice.

Previously on my Blessing 2 review, I said that Blessing 2 have somewhat 2.5D presentation to the midrange, the Hexa is safe from this problem, midrange feels cohesive and correct to my ears compared to the Blessing 2.

Treble is smooth, though the presentation is somewhat a bit masked by the sub-bass, it has decent extension, but the placement is behind the sub-bass.
The treble itself, I think Blessing 2 is better compared to the Hexa, Blessing 2 to my ears is having more detail and more sparkle and feels more lively, while the Hexa presentation is more relaxed and airy (well, personal preference I guess?)

Cohesiveness on Hexa is very good, 1DD + 3BA Hybrid but feels just like one driver, nothing sounds wrong and weird.
Transient response on Hexa is snappy and dynamic, while the decay is decently long for a hybrid model, not super short like your typical BA IEMs.

Technicality

Stage is not that wide, but it has decent stage wall image, you can feel the room while listening to Hexa, it has symmetrical shape both in width and depth. If I must compare this to the Blessing 2, the Blessing 2 has more wider stage than Hexa.

Imaging is also very good, on par with Blessing 2, the sound has decent image to it albeit not being the most holographic that I have ever heard.

Separation and Positioning is good, but again if compared to Blessing 2, the Blessing 2 have more edge both on separations and positioning of sound, the Blessing 2 feels more separated and because of that finding positions of instruments / vocals / sound in general is easier / feels more exact on the Blessing 2.
This probably due to Blessing 2 have less sub-bass compared to Hexa and the upper mids and lower treble not being reduced like Hexa.

Gaming on Hexa is very good, I can play Apex Legends and Valorant and have 0 complaints, while on Blessing 2 it somehow feels a bit weird, probably due to Blessing 2 not as cohesive as Hexa, the footsteps positioning on Blessing 2 is somewhat feels "cut-off" on some angle while Hexa is 360 degree safe (lol pardon my weird analogy)

Conclusion

My subjective conclusion for Hexa is super positive, just purchase this IEM and be happy, it's rather crazy that now $80 USD can get you sound like this.

For you guys that wanted to ask, "is the Hexa actually a Blessing 2 Killer?"
the answer is NO, on my opinion its on par with the Blessing 2, BUT both Hexa and Blessing 2 have its own strong point, like Hexa having more bass resolution and very good midrange sound, and more relaxed treble presentation.
While the Blessing 2 have more sparkle and details on its treble and more wider soundstage and better separation and positioning (at least for music usage not on gaming).

If you guys still wondering should you purchase the Hexa or pass,

the Hexa is recommended if

• You want rather Neutral with extra sub-bass presentation
• You want very good technicalities with lowest cost possible
• You need an Allrounder IEMs
• You already have Blessing 2 but want more cheaper IEMs for EDC item

the Hexa is NOT so recommended if

• You're a basshead
• You prefer more mid-bass punch rather than sub-bass rumble
• You want more treble, because Hexa's treble is more on the relaxed side
• You don't like or believe in Hype item, or not believe that Hexa indeed on par with Blessing 2, then feel free to save yourself $80 USD

just in case you're Indonesian or somehow understand Bahasa Indonesia, here is the review video in Bahasa Indonesia :



that's all from me for now, I will probably edit this later to correct some of the weird English.

thanks for reading this far and please do forgive my weird English and grammatical mistakes.


-littlenezt.